Year Published: 2021
Date Published: 15/07/2021
Author/s: Centre for Ageing Better
Research Link: https://ageing-better.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-07/COVID-19-and-the-digital-divide.pdf
Methodology:
Phone survey of individuals, online survey of organisations, 17 in-depth interviews with orgs and individuals; included a good note on limitations of representativeness and the missing data
Key Takeaways:
Low-icome, 50-70 yos were most likely to be offline (27%); device loan schemes were very popular during the pandemic; implies that the majority of those aged 50-70 who are offline (around 1.2 million people) are those living on household incomes under £25,000 (around 994,000 people) – intersection of social and digital deprivation; Giving/loaning devices is the form of digital support which has expanded the most with 34% of organisations started doing this since the pandemic. To a significant extent this will represent UK Online Centres that participated in the DevicesDotNow scheme; The overwhelming majority of people, whether on or offline, were not aware of an organisation that could provide digital support if they needed it (87%)
Centre for Ageing Better
Good case studies at the end of the report, in appendices